Cleveland Cavs, OKC Thunder Are For Real
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 20 Jan 2025
As the NBA season reaches its mid-point mark, Cleveland and Oklahoma not only kept their leadership in the East and the West respectively but have even stretch their lead over their nearest pursuers, including no less than the defending champion, Boston.
Cleveland Cavaliers, holding a 35-6 win loss record in the Eastern Conference, the league's best as of mid-season, is 6.5 games ahead of the Celtics. Meanwhile, the OKC Thunder toting the Western Conference best record of 35-7 is also 6.5 games ahead of the overachieving Houston Rockets.
It's no secret that the Cavs have been helped a great deal by their season best 15-0 start. The few teams to have beaten them thus far included the Celtics and Indiana Pacers where they are both 1-1, the Atlanta Hawks who have beaten them twice, the Miami Heat where they are 0-1 and the OKC Thunder which gave them their most lopsided loss via a 134-114 trashing last week. The Cavs have however earlier beaten OKC squaring their matchplay this season.
Cleveland has been having success through an extended line-up which is bannered by a strong starting unit composed of usual dependables Jarrett Allen at center, Eric Mobley at power forward, Caris Levert at small forward, Donovan Mitchell at shooting guard and Darius Garland at point guard. Coming off the bench are Dean Wade, Ty Jerome, George Niang, Max Struss and Isaac Okoro among others.
Of course, it helps the Cavs that Boston and even New York are still sorting out some chemistry problems in their current line-ups despite the Celtics are back with their old championship unit and the Knicks strengthened by the arrival of Karl Anthony Towns.
Oklahoma, last season's Western Conference second best team behind Minnesota Timberwolves, got to where they are now by posting long winning streaks through the MVP-worthy performance of star guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander despite missing ace center Chet Hoimgren and later even relief slotman Isaiah Hertenstein.
Completing a powerhouse cast with SGA are Jaylin Williams who now usually spell at center, power forward Jalen Williams, small forward Luguenz Dorf and Isaiah Joe at point. Providing support from the bench are Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace, reserve center Brenden Carlson and Ajay Mitchell.
Oklahoma thus far is 2-1 against their nearest rival, Houston Rockets with a fourth game to be played in Houston.
Between Cleveland and OKC, it is the Thunder that may have harder time keeping their post position in the West in the long run with the continued absence of their top two centers and the higher probability of injuries hitting their other major players including SGA who missed the recent crucial game against bitter rival Dallas Mavericks. A win could have given them the league's best record but they lost the game, allowing Cleveland to regain the top.
There is Houston which is also continuous winning with their own brand of extended line-up that is bannered by a core of from six to seven players who could score in double figures game after game. This has been the result of a long rebuilding effort that transformed the Rockets once youthful recruits into a cohesive fighting unit with veterans, point guard Fred Van Fleet and center Stephen Adams providing steadiness and leadership. The stars of the current Rockets team include seven foot Turkish center Alperen Sengun, shooting guards Jalen Green and Amen Thompson and forwards Dillon Brooks, Cam Whitmore, Tari Eason and Jabari Smith.
Then, there are the Denver Nuggets with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray playing lately like they are on a mission to get back to the top of the West, at least. And who could overlook Dallas which is just waiting for the return of Luka Doncic to help Kyrie Irving for a final push.
Of course, we are just talking of the Conference standings and the placing for the post season.
The play-offs are another matter altogether where different types of challenges and dangers lurk for both Cleveland and Oklahoma.
Abangan ang mga susunod pang kabanata...
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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